Al-Qaida prisoners to be asked about sniper

The FBI plans to question al-Qaida prisoners at Guantanamo Bay about the sniper terrorising Washington DC, it was reported today.

No links have been found so far to connect Osama bin Laden’s network to the gunman who has killed nine people since October 2.

But intelligence sources told the New York Post they have decided to tell the Guantanamo prisoners about the murders.

The officials do not expect to get any answers, but they do expect the prisoners to talk about it with their fellow inmates later.

And US agents will be listening in on their conversations when they do.

The planned interviews at the US base in Cuba emerged as Washington police began recommending ways to avoid becoming the sniper’s next victim.

The advice includes telling pedestrians to move in a zigzag fashion.

And people putting petrol in their cars are told to crouch and keep their body hidden behind the vehicle.

Investigators now believe the sniper wanted to be seen on Monday when he gunned down FBI analyst Linda Franklin in a car park in Falls Church, Virginia.

They noted that in his previous attacks, the sniper fired from a considerable distance while either hiding in bushes or in a van or truck.

But in Monday’s attack, he was only 40ft away from his target – firing from a white van at the end of the row of cars in which Franklin’s red convertible was parked.

Cops believe the dramatic change in tactics by a gunman who has been careful in the past indicates he wanted to be spotted.

The two witnesses who reported seeing him shoot identified him as having olive-coloured skin, and as being either Middle Eastern or Hispanic.

Police believe the sniper’s appearance was designed to send a message to authorities – and the message is his Middle Eastern heritage.

They also believe he switched weapons because he was firing at shorter range.

In previous attacks, police say he used either a Colt AR-15 or a Kruger Mini-14.

But one witness to Monday’s attack told investigators he was sure the sniper used a Soviet-style AK-74 semiautomatic assault rifle.

The AK-74, popular with military-gun collectors, is meant for short-range, rapid-fire shooting.

By switching to a less commonly used gun, the killer may have given detectives a clue that could help track him down, police officials said.

The murder spree has claimed nine lives and left two people wounded in the Washington area in the past two weeks.

Police had hoped to come up with a composite sketch of the killer, based on the two eyewitness accounts, but their descriptions proved inadequate.

"Unfortunately, distance and darkness, and perhaps adrenaline, have made (the witnesses) unable to give us a composite," said Montgomery Police Captain Nancy Demme.